Cognition and interpreting aptitude

The notion of a cognitive aptitude for interpreting has received sustained attention from educators and scholars. Research has largely adopted the expert-novice paradigm to explore potential aptitude components, on which some aptitude tests for interpreting training are based. However, the research community has yet to coalesce around a consistent view on cognitive aptitude, and doubts over the predictive power of aptitude tests persist. We still do not know what among the identified abilities constitutes aptitude, and what abilities can develop through training and experience. In this chapter, we describe the main categories of aptitude that have been explored: linguistic, processing, sociocognitive, and memory and attention abilities. We discuss the existence of an interpreter advantage to conceptualize the effect of training and experience in the expert-novice paradigm. Regarding aptitude testing, we explore the distinction between construct and predictive validation, contextualization, and individual effects. We conclude by pointing to an emerging trend in which behavioral evidence is supported by that from neuroimaging research.